Eating Habits
by Dapper Monk
Summary: If the residents of Stark Tower found Agent Barton's eating habits to be strange, they never mentioned it.


Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or any other works from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All rights are reserved to Warner Bros., Joss Whedon, and any other entitled parties.

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Bruce enjoys noticing the little things about his teammates. He is no psychologist, but it gives away a good bit about them.

His most recent observations are all centered around the eating habits of one Agent Barton.

Shawarma was the first time anyone in the group, with the exception of Natasha, had seen Clint eat.

It was amazing the speed at which he guzzled down the cuisine. By the time Tony was taking his third bite, Clint was finished and busy exchanging glances with his partner.

The next morning, when they were all greeted by a lovely pancake breakfast, Clint finished first despite arriving at the table last. It was an impressive feat, seeing a man eat five pancakes in four bites.

The speed at which Clint ate his food wasn't the only quirky part of his eating habits. He always protected his food with his body.

With finger foods he would never use the table; instead choosing to keep the plate or dish in his lap. Once finished, the empty plate would then be placed at his respective "spot" at the table.

With messy foods that were better off left on a flat surface, Clint would place his forearms around the dish like a wall. The only person who could get past to steal his food was Natasha; and Bruce was pretty sure it was only because he let her.

During meals wasn't even the only time Clint's odd eating habits were apparent. The man loved to eat crunchy, obnoxious foods.

He had a penchant for munching on raw noodles. The bone crunching noise that accompanied it was a personal peeve of everyone within hearing range.

Morning and afternoon sparring sessions yielded similar observations. In between bouts of training with Natasha, and the occasional Cap, Clint was to be found munching on ice cubes.

All of these habits and preferences could easily be explained. Bruce was no psychologist, but he had actually looked up a bit to help with Tony's ... whatever the hell his problem was.

Clint was simple though.

Clint's speed of consumption and protective stance over his food could easily be attributed to his time in an orphanage, where he would've had to fight for food.

The penchant for noisy snacks most likely stemmed from long hours in a lonely sniper post. The noise helped to fill the time, alleviate feelings of loneliness.

Natasha was the only one granted access to his food. Bruce simply chocked it up to their partnership, relationship, whatever the fuck it was. Bruce knew not to try and dive anywhere into that lake of emotional issues. Like not even dipping your toe in.

However, Bruce couldn't determine the psychology behind the most prominent eating habit of said Agent Barton. And it had finally reached the point where not knowing the answer was driving Bruce insane.

What was the eating habit?

Granola.

The man loved granola.

Granola was keeping Bruce up at night.

Fucking _granola_.

It was a habit none of the male Avengers had noticed at first, but over time had crept up on them.

Whenever there was a moment of down-time, Clint always seemed to be eating granola. He had his own personal stash in his S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. There were bags of it everywhere around the tower. And the amount of granola Pepper brought from the grocery store was insane.

It got to the point Tony had even christened it "Birdseed", mocking both Clint's codename and sense of taste simultaneously. It was kind of fitting, so it caught on pretty fast.

So basically, that spurred Bruce into using his newfound knowledge of psychology to dissect Clint's eating habits. Except he still had no answer for the very thing that sparked his whole interest in the matter; why did Clint consume so much granola?

So after several nights of restless sleep and days of implementing overly-elaborate theories to try at determine an answer, Natasha decided to take pity on Bruce.

It's just them out on the deck, looking over the city, enjoying a break from Tony's blaring rock music. Natasha finds it distasteful, and Bruce just enjoys silence. Thor and Clint are able to actually enjoy the music, and Steve just tolerates it like everything else.

Bruce has his hands running through his hair, trying desperately to dissect his team member's eating habits. Natasha stands a foot away, leaning against the railing, looking at the skyline.

"It's all he remembers of his parents."

What?

"When Clint was young, he and his brother were fed granola as a snack. Eating it is a habit, but there's a part of him that does it just to remember them. Stop stressing, doc."

Bruce's head jerks up. He knew it! He knew it had something to do with a childhood manifestation - wait. That wasn't his mind - Natasha said that. She'd just simply given him the answer.

"Thanks," Bruce mumbles, a tad bit in awe. It was easy to forget just how many of the archer's secrets she kept.

He looks around, only to realize Natasha's somehow back inside, relaxing alongside her partner on the couch.

So... that was fun. Right.

Bruce makes a mental note not to delve deeper into psychology if he ever gets bored someday. Eating habits, who knew?


End file.
